Turkey Meatball Kebobs with Tzatziki

I like subbing ground turkey for ground beef in most recipes. Sometimes it doesn’t work out as well as I would have liked, and sometimes it works out even better than the beef version. In this recipe, I actually prefer using turkey. It’s not as heavy, making it great for summer.

You could easily make this without putting the meatballs on kebobs, but kebobs seemed a bit more “Mediterranean” to me.

For the tzatziki (tzatziki is pretty standard, but these are the proportions that I prefer):

1 cucumber, peeled and seeded

8 oz. yogurt (I used fat-free, you can use whatever type you like. Greek yogurt, like Fage, is especially good.)

1 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced (I prefer dill, but mint or parsley can also be used, so feel free to substitute that if you like.)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp. minced garlic

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Finely grate the cucumber with a box grater. Strain it in some cheesecloth over a bowl with a heavy weight on top (a can of Diet Coke works well!) to get rid of most of the water. It takes at least an hour to do this; I usually do this step the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

Add the strained cucumber to the rest of the tzatziki ingredients and adjust the ingredients to taste, if necessary. Set aside to let the flavors marinate a bit. (You can make this a few days in advance.)

Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. You could also grill these.

Saute the chopped onion in a bit of olive oil. Let cool, then add to the turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, dill, and salt. Combine the ingredients together with your hands, then form into 1-1/2″ meatballs.

Skewer the meatballs with the veggies. Brush the tops of the meatballs with a bit of olive oil (just a bit!) to ensure nice browning on top, and add a bit of salt and pepper to the kebobs.

Broil the kebobs for ~7 minutes, then flip them over and brush the other side of the meatballs with a bit of olive oil. Broil the kebobs for an additional 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes, then serve with the tzatziki and pita (if you’re grilling the kebobs, brush the pitas with a bit of olive oil and stick those on the grill too. YUM!).

Verdict:

Well, I could eat tzatziki with a spoon (and sometimes do), so anything with tzatziki will be awesome in my book. But the meatballs were flavorful (to avoid having superd-dry meatballs though, you really need to use at least 93% lean, if not darker meat). Sauteeing the onions added a nice layer of flavor and (I think) increased the moisture by adding a bit of fat, and the fresh dill was a refreshing change from parsley. Next time, I’ll probably add some cumin to the meatballs for a smoky underlying flavor.